A Wall Street Journal reporter was removed from Donald Trump’s press pool for his upcoming weekend trip to Scotland. This decision followed the newspaper’s publication of an article that suggested the US president sent Jeffrey Epstein a 50th birthday letter including a drawing of a naked woman. In response, the US president quickly filed a $10bn lawsuit against the paper.
White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, issued a statement clarifying that the Wall Street Journal, along with any other news outlet, is not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in certain spaces like the Oval Office, Air Force One, and private workspaces. It was also mentioned that thirteen distinct outlets will cover the President’s trip to Scotland, with the Wall Street Journal excluded due to its “fake and defamatory conduct.”
Tarini Parti, the reporter removed from the Scotland trip’s press pool, was not involved in writing the Epstein piece. Trump is in Scotland to work on the UK-US trade deal and visit his golf courses. The Guardian US confirmed the reporter’s exclusion.
Decisions regarding the White House press pool previously rested with the White House Correspondents’ Association but are now under the administration’s control. The administration had previously banned the Associated Press from certain exclusive access after the outlet refused to use Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico. The White House Correspondents Association president, Weijia Jiang, criticized the decision to remove Parti, questioning whether it was temporary or a permanent ban on Wall Street Journal reporters from the press pool.
The Dow Jones spokesperson expressed full confidence in the accuracy and rigor of their reporting and stated they will defend against any lawsuit.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/21/trump-wall-street-journal-scotland-press-pool-epstein-report
